Sterling Heights police have requested arrest warrants against the owners of Cada's Poker and Sports Grill for selling alcohol without a liquor license, a department spokesman said Wednesday.

Lt. Luke Riley said the nine-count misdemeanor warrant package was recently submitted to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office as part of an ongoing state investigation into the charity poker room.

"They have been very cooperative with us," Riley said.

According to police and state gaming officials, charities renting poker rooms that do not have a liquor license are required to purchase their own alcohol from licensed liquor vendors using a state-issued temporary liquor license. Whatever alcohol that is not used in the course of a night is supposed to be removed from the premises by the charities.

Each time a non-profit uses the poker room, an audit is supposed to be conducted to determine how much alcohol was sold from the start until the end of the event.

In Cada's case, the operators were somehow buying liquor from licensed providers and re-selling liquor to the charities even though they do not have a liquor license, authorities allege.

Sterling Heights police said they were notified of the illegal alcohol sales by the Michigan Gaming Control Board and worked with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, which has its own investigation underway into the venue and nine of the charities that allegedly purchased from Cada's.

The poker room is owned by Patrick Bernhardt of Washington Township and Jerry Cada of Shelby Township. Cada is the father of Joe Cada, the Shelby Township resident who won the 2009 World Series of Poker.

In a series of emails, Bernhardt called the allegation of selling liquor without a license "very inaccurate" and "misleading." Earlier this week in an email message, he declined to comment on the pending criminal charges.

Riley said the owners were cooperative when informed of the allegation and removed the alcohol from the venue's shelve before it closed. He said much of the police investigation is based on a report provided by the LCC.

Cada's, which opened in the former Roosevelt's Bar & Grill on Hayes Road near M-59, voluntarily closed its doors while the probe into its liquor license was being conducted.

Rick Kalm, director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board, said in a statement that until more information regarding the status of the liquor license is known, charities are not being scheduled for poker fundraisers at the venue.

LCC records show Cada's applied for a liquor license transfer from Roosevelt's in October 2011. The application was later amended in the summer of 2012. In September of last year, the file was "held for further commission consideration," records show.

Walt Blessed, the outgoing city clerk in Sterling Heights, earlier this month said the Sterling Heights City Council granted local approval for the transfer by the LCC withheld its endorsement.

The LCC had was scheduled to discuss the item at a commission meeting on Oct. 17, 2012, but state records do not indicate if further action was taken. An LCC spokeswoman has said she could not comment beyond what the public records show.

The state gaming board said in a statement that there is an ongoing LCC investigation into Cada's as "it appears they have no liquor license."

Cada's is one of more than 70 poker rooms in Michigan that have hosted what's called "millionaire parties." The tournaments are set up so the poker room workers handle the cards at the table while volunteers from charities sell chips and cash them in when the players are done.

Charity suppliers and game operators split some of the money wagered while some of the cash goes to the players.

Last year, the millionaire parties generated in excess of $184 million, according to published reports.

Another Macomb County charity gambling facility, Snookers Pool and Pub in Shelby Township, also shut down in December due to a pending gaming board probe. Owner Don Wawrzynai of St. Clair County has said he is working with state officials to try to rectify his alleged offenses.